Amid Heated Cost Cap Criticism, Team Principal Christian Horner Finds an Unlikely Ally: “Things Need To Be Tidied Up”

After the news went viral that Red Bull overspent the set budget limit by the FIA, the Milton Keynes-based outfit faced immense criticism. Amid all the heavy scrutiny, there’s a retired F1 racer who thinks the controversial overrunning of the budget cap is not a big deal.

The FIA has set a budget cap of $145 million last year to help the smaller teams fight the bigger ones. Now Red Bull is found in breach of the fixed cap and faces a penalty of $7 million and a 10 percent reduction in wind tunnel time over the next 12 months.

The Austrian team was second in the constructor championship last year, whereas their star driver Max Verstappen won the title fight with Lewis Hamilton with the finest margin. Many of the rival teams, like Mercedes and Ferrari, felt that Red bull were let go with a slap on the wrist when there were many options that could have made the road for the team more adverse.

Romain Grosjean, the former F1 driver who currently drives in Indycar, feels that the cost cap tale is not a big deal. Speaking to Any Driven Monday, he said, “Red Bull, they only went £2m over budget so it’s not a huge deal.”

“But if it had been £10m or £20m over, what would you have done? Take away a Championship 10 or 11 months later? It’s just a little bit complicated and things need to be tidied up.”

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The Budget cap controversy must have given some sleepless nights to the whole Red Bull team. Now the Austrian team boss, Christian Horner, demands an apology from the rival teams.

Christian Horner demands an apology from the rivals

Post the FIA’s decision of penalizing Red Bull on their overspending, things have not been great for Christian Horner and Co. The governing body has made it clear that the Milton Keynes side has overrun the budget by less than 5 percent. They are found spending around $2.2 million over the set limit.

Things could have been far worse for the whole team if the FIA had decided to hand over any harsh punishment. There were speculations that Max Verstappen’s maiden title being snatched from him. However, the title is still with the Dutchman and now the Red Bull boss wants an apology from the rival teams.

“I think we are due an apology from some of the rivals. We take it on the chin,” he said. “Potentially, mistakes have been made but with 20-20 vision, anyone can be a specialist. There was nothing dishonest and certainly no cheating.”

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All the budget cap saga didn’t affect Red Bull’s brilliant run this year. Having already won the constructor’s and driver’s championships, the Milton Keynes base will look ahead to the remaining two races, finishing the season on a high.